Winter Heating Costs Spike: How Much More Will NJ Residents Pay?

NEW JERSEY — Home heating costs in New Jersey are expected to rise sharply this winter, especially for households that use natural gas and heating oil, the Energy Department said Wednesday.

The bleak report sparked worry by some that local home heating assistance programs may not be able to make up the difference for struggling families.

The agency projects natural gas bills across the nation will jump by 28 percent over last winter, heating oil bills will go up 27 percent, electricity will be 10 percent higher, and propane will cost 5 percent more.

The Energy Department projects the average household in the Northeast region will pay about $1,094 to heat their homes with natural gas this winter, an increase of 23 percent.

Looking at electricity costs, the Energy Department projects the average household in the Northeast region will pay about $1,679 to power their homes with electricity this winter, an increase of 11 percent.

The surge in home heating costs comes on top of stubborn inflation that is raising the price of almost everything. Inflation rates accelerated last month with consumer prices, excluding the volatile food and energy sectors, growing 6.6 percent, the fastest such pace in four decades. Overall, the September Consumer Price Index was up 8.2 percent from the year prior.

Patch previously reported in September that the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities approved rate hikes for four different utility companies at Sept. 7's meeting:

• PSE&G (monthly bills will increase by $24.77, or 24 percent)
• New Jersey Natural Gas (up $21.01 per month, or 15 percent)
• Elizabethtown Gas (up $25.33 per month, or 22 percent)
• South Jersey Gas (up $31.49 per month, or 18.6 percent)

PSE&G received approval for the largest rate increase at 24 percent. The energy company is New Jersey's largest utility, with 1.9 million gas customers. The average residential bill for PSE&G is currently about $101 per month. Read More: NJ To Pay More For Heat As State Approves Gas Rate Hikes for Millions

These new rates went into effect on Oct. 1.

People who need help paying their heating bills should check to see if they’re eligible for assistance under the federally funded Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program. In New Jersey, the Home Energy Assistance Program helps very low-income residents with their heating and cooling bills, and makes provisions for emergency heating system services and emergency fuel assistance. To learn more about the NJ program click here.

Congress added $1 billion to the LIHEAP fund, strained during the third-hottest summer on record, bringing it to $4.8 billion. But the amount of assistance available falls short of last year, when pandemic relief packages took the fund to $8 billion.

Advocacy groups across the country are pressuring utilities to implement a moratorium on winter shut-offs.

The projected spike in winter’s heating bills — the highest in more than a decade, according to the National Energy Assistance Directors Association — are the result of converging factors.

Global energy consumption has rebounded from the early days of the pandemic, and supply was barely keeping pace before the war in Ukraine further reduced supplies. The situation is even bleaker in Europe, where Russia’s continued curtailment of natural gas is pushing prices upward and causing painful shortages.

Anxiety is growing among consumers across the country. The pain will be especially acute in New England, which is heavily reliant on heating oil to keep homes warm. It’s projected to cost more than $2,300 to heat a typical home with heating oil this winter, the Energy Department said.

“People are scared. They’re worried. They’re frustrated,” Lisa McGee, who coordinates the heating aid program in Lewiston, Maine, told the Associated Press. “There’s more anxiety this year.”

Mark Wolfe, the executive director of the National Energy Assistance Directors Association, said a “crisis is coming.”

“There’s a lot of uncertainty and factors in play that could drive prices higher,” he told the AP.

The Associated Press contributed reporting.